There is a speed issue on some streets here in South Dundas. A select group of drivers are turning some streets and roads in the municipality into speedways and drag strips. Despite some increased enforcement by the authorities, and public education using mobile speed detectors in various locations, the problem of aggressive speeding remains.
There are a few hot spots for activity in South Dundas: Fifth Street East in Morrisburg, Elizabeth Drive in Iroquois, County Road 18 east of Williamsburg, and County Road 16 north of Brinston.
Some towns or villages have enacted traffic calming measures: others have reduced the speed limit within villages and urban areas to 40 km/h. In both solutions, increased and targeted enforcement by the police is also enacted. These solutions are only really applicable in urban/village settings and not practical on rural sections of County Roads.
In rural South Dundas, the provincial government enabled municipal governments to install photo radar in school safety and community safety zones in 2019. For these rural areas, this form of increased enforcement would help mitigate speeding. Fines collected from photo radar tickets are used to help fund the equipment.
For the villages in South Dundas however, the easy option is to reduce the speed limits to 40 kilometres per hour. That option would be ineffective as lowering the speed limit for all drivers only increases the fines – if speeders are caught.
Focusing on Fifth Street East and Elizabeth Drive, both streets have long distances of uninterrupted travel. Converting some intersections to all-way stops along the length of these two village roads would break up the ability of most drivers from even reaching the current speed limit, let alone exceed it. Installing much needed crosswalks on Fifth connecting the Morrisburg Village Plaza and the residential areas south of it; and connecting Elizabeth Drive’s sidewalk to the waterfront park walkways, would also break up traffic flow and improve safety.
In all circumstances, increased in-person monitoring and enforcement by the Ontario Provincial Police will help deter those with a need for speed.
All these measures, photo radar, new three-way and four-way stops, signalled crosswalks, and in-person policing all come at a cost – but at what cost safety? We have been fortunate that there have been no incidents where pedestrians and drivers have been injured. That fortune only lasts so long. That is why action – not further study – is needed to help prevent a future tragedy from occurring.